The lakeside town of Skaneateles, N.Y. has a love for the game

Mitch Major remembers the day well.

Major, now 46, was in his early 20s, driving down the road in the middle of a work day, when something came over him. He missed home.

That’s the kind of place Skaneateles is. You might leave Skaneateles, but it never really leaves you.

"I was working for a company called Granger and they moved me down to Binghamton," said Major, who now coaches the Skaneateles High School boys varsity hockey team. "That lasted for about six months because I missed coaching (in Skaneateles). I was driving to an appointment in the morning and I pulled over, got on a pay phone. Called a friend of mine and said I want to keep coaching and I think I’d be a good teacher. He said go for it.

"I called my boss that night and told him I think I’m going to be a teacher. I think part of that pull was that I wanted to be back in Skaneateles. I wanted to be coaching and I wanted to be working with the youth of the area. That’s when I realized how special Skaneateles was and how much I enjoyed coaching here."